Brake mechanism for railway cars



Dec. 29, 1925. 1,567,407

H. 1. WRIGLEY BRAKE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Dec. 9, 1922 W75oooono ooooooo coococ metal.

Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

NlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY I. WRIGLEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL DRAFT GEARATTACHMENT GO., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BRAKE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS.

Application filed December 9, 1922. Serial No. 605,872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY I. WRIGLEY, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake MechanismsforRailway Cars, of which the following 1s a specification, and which areillustrated 1n the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to brake mechanisms for railway cars and has forits object, broadly, to give the hand brakes speed and power comparableto the air brakes.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to embody in thebrake rigging a cable cooperating with a sheave-like member in the formof a rotatably mounted reversing lever having arms of different lengthprovided with peripheral working surface of considerable angular extentarranged to effect a quick change from one arm to the other and to givethe mechanism a wide working range in applying the braking pressure.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe disclosure proceeds and the description is read in connection withthe accompanying drawings showing a selected embodiment of the inventionand in which- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a railway carembodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the parts in thepositions they occupy when the brakes are off;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the parts in thepositions they occupy when brakes are applied;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the reversing lever; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse section thereof taken along the line 5--5 of Fig.4.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates a suitablecar underframe equipped with the usual brake step 11 on which is mounteda brake staff 12 equipped with a ratchet wheel 13 for cooperating withthe pawl 14, and with the hand wheel 15 by which the hand brakemechanism is operated.

Below the car under-frame 10 is the usual air brake cylinder 16 equippedwith a push rod 17 which is suitably connected to the brake lever. Ahand brake rod 19, also of the usual construction, is connected at oneend to the brake lever 18 and its opposite end cooperates with cablehere shown in the form of a chain 20, having its dead end anchored tothe brake step at 21 and its live end in winding engagement with thebrake staff at 22.

In place of the usual sheave mounted in the forked end 23 of the brakerod is substituted a sheave-like member generally indicated by thereference numeral 24 and shown in detail in Fig. 4. This sheave-likemember has a suitable hub 25, adapted to receive the pin or otherbearing 26. In order to make the sheave as light as possible the body ismade in the form of a web 27 (see Fig. 5) which carries the grooved orother suitable rim structure 28 in which the cable runs.

In Fig. 2 the parts are shown in their normal slack condition. When thebrake staff is rotated the live end of the chain works with the speed ofthe short arm of the lever to make the throw of the long arm of thelever quickly take up the slack. Upon further movement of the live endof the chain to the right it shifts, by reason of the reversing of thelever, from the short arm to the long arm, and the dead end of the chainbecomes engaged with the short arm whereby the brake staff is given themechanical advantage of the lever in drawing the brake rod to the rightand applying the brakes.

On account of the lack of space and other limiting circumstances, theshorter arm of the lever must necessarily be quite short, consequentlyif the working surface 29 thereof is made concentric with the hub 25 itwill be too short to provide a wide working range for the brakes and itwill make the step from the short arm of the lever to the long arm ofthe lever somewhat abrupt. For this reason it is preferred to make theworking surface of the short arm of the lever eccentric to the hub andproject it to the left side in Fig. 4. When thus arranged the speed ofthe long arm of the lever will slow up towards the end of the movementin taking up the slack and the live end of the chain will gain somemechanical advantage as the point of application of braking pressure isapproached. Also the step of changing from the short arm of the lever tothe long arm is made less abrupt though quick. This arrangement of theworking surface 29 is also of great advantage when the parts takeapproximately the position shown in Fig. 3 for then this laterallyextended working surface of the shorter arm provides for a con siderablefurther rotation of the lever in a clockwise direction (Fig. 3), whileworking efficiently to apply the brakes.

The working surface 30 of the long arm of the lever is provided with anextension 31, projecting to the right in Figure 4t opposite to theeccentricity of the working surface 29 of the shorter arm. This isdesirable in order to continue the working surface 80 for cooperation ofthe live end of the chain as the parts continue to rotate clock-wisefrom a position shown in Fig. 8. Where it is desired to have the brakepressure practically constant throughout the entire-working range of themechanism, the working surface 30 may be made eccentric in amountcorresponding to the eccentricity of the working surface 29 so that theincrease of the short arm leverage as the more eccentric parts of thesurface 29 come into engagement with the dead end of the chain will beneutralized by a corresponding increase of the long arm leverage.

In order to save weight and metal it is preferred to make the right handside of the lever in Fig. 4 concave substantially as illustrated.Adjacent to this concavity the web 27 is cut away as indicated at 82(Fig. 4:) and the rim is thickened and perforated at 83 to receive ashackle 3st by which the chain is secured to the lever in the bight ofthe concavity. This arrangement makes it possible to gather up the chainwhen the parts are in a slack condition substantially as illustrated inFig. 2, which not only eliminates objectionable sagging, but alsodetermines to a certain extent the speed with which the slack will betaken up; for the distance of the point of attachment of the chain tothe lever from the fulcrum or pivot of the lever materially affects thetravel of the brake rod for a given angular movement of the lever.

From the foregoing, it will be clear that the reversing lever hasworking surfaces on its unequal arms arranged so as to shorten andfacilitate the change from one end to the other in passing from theslack taking up operation to the brake applying operation and to providefor a wide working range in applying the braking pressure. Theparticular illustration is very well suited to certain classes of carsand from the information here given those skilled in the art will beable to properly design the working surfaces and locate them in such away as to meet the requirements of other conditions.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a brake mechanism for railway cars, the combination of a brakestaff, a brake lever and an extensible and contractable connectionbetween said brake staff and brake lever including a reversingleverhaving arms of different length spaced apart angularly and provided withlateral extensions projecting in opposite directions, a cable formedinto a bight about said lever with one end in winding engagement withsaid brake stafi and the other end anchored and means for eifecting a'driving engagementbetween said cable and'said reversing lever.

3. In a brake mechanism for railway cars, the combination of a brakestafi, a brake lever and an extensible and contractable connectionbetween said brake staff and brake lever including a reversing leverhaving arms of different length spaced apart angularly and provided withperipheral working surfaces, a chain formed into a bignt about saidlever with one end in winding engagement with said brake staff and theother end anchored, the working surface of the shorter arm beingextended laterallyto give increased leverage to the live end of thechain in taking up'the slack and increased throw to the lever inapplying the braking pressure, and means connected to said brake leverand-to the axis of said reversing lever for operatingsaid brake leverupon therotation of said brake stafi.

i. In a brake mechanism for'railway cars, the combination of a brakestaff, a brake lever and an extensible and eontractable connectionbetween said brake staff and brake lever including a reversing leverhavingarms of different length spaced apart angular-1y and provided withperipheral working surfaces, a chain formed into a big-ht about saidlever with one end in winding engagement with said brake stafi and theother end anchored, said arms hav ing oppositely directed lateralprojections to increase the throw of the lever and correspondinglyincrease the working range of the mechanism.

. 5. In a brake mechanism for railway cars, the combination of abrakestaff, a brake lever and an extensible and cont-ractable connectionbetween said brake staff and brake lever comprising a reversing leverhaving, arms of differentlengths, the shorter arm being provided With alateral extension,

' the forward face of said lever being substantially straight and thefollower face being concave.

6. In combination, a brake staff, a brake lever, a reversing leverhaving a long and a short arm, the short arm having a lateral extension,the face of said lever adjacent to said stall in the released positionof the brake being concave, cable means secured to said concave face andconnected to an anchor and to said brake stall, and means for connectingsaid reversing lever to the brake lever, said means constituting thesole snpportfor said reversing lever.

7. In a brake operating mechanism, a reversing lever having an aperturetherethrough forming. a bearing for said lever, said lever having a longand a short arm and said short arm being laterally extended, each end ofsaid lever being grooved for the engagement of a flexible operatingmember.

8. In a brake operating mechanism, a reversing lever having an aperturetherethrough forming a bearing for said lever, said lever having a longand a short arm, said short arm being laterally extended and one of theedge faces of said lever being concave, each end of said lever beinggrooved for the engagement of a flexible operating member.

HENRY I. VVRIGLEY.

